Canada - General Prison Talk, News, Introductions & Chit ChatTopics & Discussions relating to Prison & the Criminal Justice System in Canada that do not fit into any other Canada sub-forum category. Please feel free to also introduce yourself to other members in the state and talk about whatever topics come to mind that may not have anything to do with prison.

a good amount is nothing more then you can afford. What one person sends isn't always right for someone else to send! Also depends on how many fon calls you want a week, and how much they cost and even still if you can afford them.

I sent my son 120. His dad sent him 80.00 I'm thibnking I may have sent too much, but if I tell him I won't be sending any for another 3 months that should be okay. Can they get into trouble with too much money? How expensive are things in prison?

Honestly things are NOT cheap in prison....and yes they can get in trouble if they have too much money on their books (not in trouble by co's or wardens) but in their own prison trouble with other guys - meanin' they can start to gamble, buy drugs or other contriband and so on - if your son is asking for way too much money and or get's angered by your not sending money in there could be a problem.
make sure he doesn't borrow things from other inmates even if he doesn't have money on his books for store - inmates will typically charge 3X the amount it costs to purchase from store and can get him into a lot of issues w/other inmates especially if he can't pay back on time n so forth!
you can ask your son to send you a price list of store what things are going to cost him, and how much the calls are costing and some places that money is sent seperate places anyways so you would kno what's for fon specificaly and store - however like feds is all one account and inmate puts it on fon, email or store or all 3 when needed -

I was sending my man 30$ a week sometimes only 25$ and sometimes $40 it jus depended on what i had, now that money was just used on our emails (as emails cost him money to read and type emails) and 2 fon calls a week and then sometimes he could buy an ice cream or something else. His family helped him buy things from the store that he wanted / needed. at first he was spending his store money to email me and call me and then i jus started to send that for him cuz i didnt wanna be taken from what he coulda had, along with taken from emails he coulda been sending family members and calls and so forth.

It's not cheap being an inmate that's for sure! If they work and or have a talent like drawing cards he can also do those things and receive store items from other inmates and so forth or any other crafts he might be able to do that he could "sell" to other inmates they trade it for store items...that also helps cut the costs on family members

We were told the max that an be spent on canteen in $500/year so that's what was sent. Once that's spent then he has to wait until the new year. We were told the new year where my bf is starts in April. Sometimes a little extra is sent for his phone card but he was told to budget his
money and make it last. So far, so good.

I bring 20-30 a week to cover our phone calls. His job he works inside covers his canteen he orders every week. It definitely depends on what you can afford and how often you want to talk. Collect calls here cost 7 bucks a call, and the amount we talk on the phone the bill was from 500-900 a month, local calls cost us under 150 a month. But like it's been mentioned before, it is NOT cheap to be in jail.

omg those phone calls are killer! How the H do you pay a 900$ a month phone bill?! I got vonage with a local number for him, so it is 20 a month for me and 30 a month for him gets us an hour or two on the phone each day. His job inside covers his expenses and gurlsetzfire is right, they are only allowed to spend $500 a year from outside sources.